System, apparatus and method for user to obtain service from professional

Abstract

Computer-implemented tools (such as systems, apparatuses, methods, application software, computer program products, etc.) can be provided to match and connect consumers with wellness professionals. Such tools may employ an intelligent module that takes into account various information collected from or regarding the patient, such as physical, emotional, and/or verbal traits, and/or other behavioral patterns or personal profile information, as well as other contextually relevant information to perform the matching.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for a user to obtain services from a health or wellness professional through a network, the system comprising a patient-to-professional matching apparatus that comprises:
 a non-transitory medium storing one or more programs of executable instructions; and   a processor configured to execute the one or more programs of executable instructions to perform, in response to a request received from a user of a user terminal for a consultation session, a matching process to match said user to one or more wellness professionals registered in a wellness professional database that registers, for each registered wellness professional amongst plural wellness professionals, a professional profile of the registered wellness professional,   wherein said matching process performed by the processor includes:
 (a) determining whether said user is registered in a user database; 
 (b) collecting, upon determining in (a) that said user is registered in the user database, patient wellness data; 
 (c) generating one or more wellness indices based on the patient wellness data, collected in (b); 
 (d) matching the user to one or more available professionals amongst plural wellness professionals registered in the wellness professional database, the matching being based on (i) the profiles of the registered wellness professionals and (ii) said one or more wellness indices generated in (c); and 
 (e) causing a user interface to be provided on the user terminal including links for the user to initiate a consultation session through the network with a wellness professional amongst the one or more available professionals. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the user is an inmate in a correctional facility, and the user terminal is configured to limit communications through the network solely to wellness service providers registered in the wellness professional database. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the user is an inmate-patient in a correctional facility, the patient wellness data collected in (b) indicate that the inmate-patient has drug dependency, and the wellness indices generated in (c) are employed in (d) to match the inmate-patient to wellness service providers specializing, or having experience, in treating drug dependency, according to the professional profile of the matched wellness service providers. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the user is a wellness professional treating an inmate-patient in a correctional facility, and the patient wellness data of the inmate-patient is supplied in (b) to indicate that the inmate-patient requires drug detoxification or has drug dependency, the inmate-patient is matched in (d) to a wellness specialist specializing in drug detoxification or treating drug dependency, and the user interface provided in (e) permits the wellness professional user and the specialist to collaborate to provide wellness care to the inmate-patient in the correctional facility. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the user is an inmate-patient in a correctional facility, the patient wellness data collected in (b) indicate that the inmate-patient has, or has a high likelihood of, psychiatric disorder or mental illness, and the wellness indices generated in (c) are employed in (d) to match the inmate-patient to wellness service providers specializing in said psychiatric disorder or mental illness, according to the professional profile of the matched wellness service providers. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the user is a wellness professional treating an inmate-patient in a correctional facility, and the patient wellness data of the inmate-patient is supplied in (b) to indicate that the inmate-patient has, or has a high likelihood of, psychiatric disorder or mental illness, the inmate-patient is matched in (d) to a wellness specialist specializing in said psychiatric disorder or mental illness, and the user interface provided in (e) permits the wellness professional user and the specialist to collaborate to provide wellness care to the inmate-patient in the correctional facility. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the user is a wellness professional treating an inmate-patient in a correctional facility, the inmate-patient is matched in (d) to a wellness specialist having a specialty matching the patient wellness data of the inmate-patient, and the user interface provided in (e) permits the wellness professional user and the wellness specialist to collaborate to prescreen the inmate-patient. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the prescreening of the inmate-patient through collaboration by the wellness professional user and the wellness specialist via the user interface provided in (e) includes determination of whether wellness concerns of the inmate-patient constitutes an emergency requiring transport to a site external to the correctional facility, to obtain treatment. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the patient wellness data collected in (b) includes symbolic data indicating social information, and at least one numerical index calculated in (c) reflects said social information captured by the symbolic data. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the user is a student, the patient wellness data collected in (b) includes symbolic data indicating academic information, and at least one numerical index calculated in (c) reflects said academic information captured by the symbolic data. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the academic information captured by the symbolic data reflects time within academic year. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the academic information captured by the symbolic data includes one or more areas of study of the user. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the patient wellness data collected in (b) includes environmental information, and at least one numerical index calculated in (c) reflects said environmental information. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the patient wellness data collected in (b) includes location information, and at least one numerical index calculated in (c) reflects said location information. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the patient wellness data collected in (b) include data automatically collected through the network from a source other than the user. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the patient wellness data collected in (b) include history of the user of serious mental illness, automatically collected through the network from a source other than the user. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the patient wellness data collected in (b) include history of the user of substance abuse, automatically collected through the network from a source other than the user. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the patient wellness data collected in (b) include history of the user of personality disorder, automatically collected through the network from a source other than the user. 
     
     
         19 . A patient-to-professional connection application that includes one or more programs of instructions embodied in a non-transitory medium and executable by a processor of a computer to cause the computer to perform, in response to a request received from a user of a user terminal for a consultation session, a matching process to match said user to one or more wellness professionals registered in a wellness professional database that registers, for each registered wellness professional amongst plural wellness professionals, a professional profile of the registered wellness professional, wherein said matching process performed by the computer includes:
 (a) determining whether said user is registered in a user database;   (b) collecting, upon determining in (a) that said user is registered in the user database, patient wellness data;   (c) generating one or more wellness indices based on the patient wellness data, collected in (b);   (d) matching the user to one or more available professionals amongst the plural wellness professionals registered in the wellness professional database, based on (i) the profiles of the registered wellness professionals and (ii) said one or more wellness indices generated in (c) based on the patient wellness data; and   (e) causing a user interface to be provided on the user terminal including links for the user to initiate a consultation session through a network with a wellness professional amongst the one or more available professionals matched in (d) to the user.   
     
     
         20 . The patient-to-professional connection application of  claim 19 , wherein the wellness indices are generated in (c) based additionally on behavioral patterns data registered in association with the user in a patient database that registers patient profile data, 
     
     
         21 . The patient-to-professional connection application of  claim 19 , wherein the wellness indices are generated in (c) based additionally on personal profile information registered in association with the user in a patient database that registers patient profile data, 
     
     
         22 . The patient-to-professional connection application of  claim 19 , wherein
 the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive and process a video stream from the user terminal, and apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the processed video,   the extracted traits are included in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and   the wellness indices are generated in (c) based on at least in part on the patient wellness data.   
     
     
         23 . The patient-to-professional connection application of  claim 19 , wherein
 the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive and process an audio stream from the user terminal, and apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the processed audio,   the extracted traits are included in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and   the wellness indices are generated in (c) based on at least in part on the patient wellness data.   
     
     
         24 . The patient-to-professional connection application of  claim 19 , wherein
 the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive and process sensory data from the user terminal, and apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the sensory data,   the extracted traits are included in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and   the wellness indices are generated in (c) based on at least in part on the patient wellness data.   
     
     
         25 . The patient-to-professional connection application of  claim 19 , wherein the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive data from the user terminal, apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the received data, include the extracted traits in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and determine one or more candidates of underlying medical conditions based on the wellness indices generated in (c). 
     
     
         26 . The patient-to-professional connection application of  claim 19 , wherein the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive data from the user terminal, apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the received data, include the extracted traits in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and determine, based on the wellness indices generated in (c), a probability of an underlying medical condition. 
     
     
         27 . The patient-to-professional connection application of  claim 19 , wherein the one or more available professionals matched in (d) to the user are determined based additionally on the probability of the underlying medical condition. 
     
     
         28 . The patient-to-professional connection application of  claim 27 , wherein the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive data from the user terminal, apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the received data, include the extracted traits in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and determine one or more candidates of underlying psychological conditions based on the wellness indices generated in (c). 
     
     
         29 . The patient-to-professional connection application of  claim 19 , wherein the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive data from the user terminal, apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the received data, include the extracted traits in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and determine, based on the wellness indices generated in (c), a probability of an underlying psychological condition. 
     
     
         30 . The patient-to-professional connection application of  claim 29 , wherein the one or more available professionals matched in (d) to the user are determined based additionally on the probability of the underlying psychological condition. 
     
     
         31 . The patient-to-professional connection application of  claim 19 , wherein the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive data from the user terminal, apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the received data, include the extracted traits in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and determine one or more candidates of underlying psychiatric conditions based on the wellness indices generated in (c). 
     
     
         32 . The patient-to-professional connection application of  claim 19 , wherein the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive data from the user terminal, apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the received data, include the extracted traits in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and determine, based on the wellness indices generated in (c), a probability of an underlying psychiatric condition. 
     
     
         33 . The patient-to-professional connection application of  claim 32 , wherein the one or more available professionals matched in (d) to the user are determined based additionally on the probability of the underlying psychiatric condition. 
     
     
         34 . The patient-to-professional connection application of  claim 19 , wherein the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive data from the user terminal, apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the received data, include the extracted traits in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and determine one or more candidates of disorders based on the wellness indices generated in (c). 
     
     
         35 . The patient-to-professional connection application of  claim 19 , wherein the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive data from the user terminal, apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the received data, include the extracted traits in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and determine, based on the wellness indices generated in (c), a probability of one or more particular disorders. 
     
     
         36 . The patient-to-professional connection application of  claim 35 , wherein the one or more available professionals matched in (d) to the user are determined based additionally on the probability of the one or more particular disorders. 
     
     
         37 . A method performed by a computer executing one or more programs of instructions embodied in a non-transitory medium, in response to a request received by the computer from a user of a user terminal for a consultation session, to match said user to one or more wellness professionals registered in a wellness professional database that registers, for each registered wellness professional amongst plural wellness professionals, a professional profile of the registered wellness professional, the method comprising:
 (a) determining whether said user is registered in a user database;   (b) collecting, upon determining in (a) that said user is registered in the user database, patient wellness data;   (c) generating one or more wellness indices based on the patient wellness data, collected in (b), of the user;   (d) matching the user to one or more available professionals amongst the plural wellness professionals registered in the wellness professional database, based on (i) the profiles of the registered wellness professionals and (ii) said one or more wellness indices generated in (c) based on the patient wellness data; and   (e) causing a user interface to be provided on the user terminal including links for the user to initiate a consultation session through a network with a wellness professional amongst the one or more available professionals matched in (d) to the user.   
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the wellness indices are generated in (c) based additionally on behavioral patterns data registered in association with the user in a patient database that registers patient profile data. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the wellness indices are generated in (c) based additionally on personal profile information registered in association with the user in a patient database that registers patient profile data, 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein
 the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive and process a video stream from the user terminal, and apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the processed video,   the extracted traits are included in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and   the wellness indices are generated in (c) based on at least in part on the patient wellness data.   
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein
 the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive and process an audio stream from the user terminal, and apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the processed audio,   the extracted traits are included in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and   the wellness indices are generated in (c) based on at least in part on the patient wellness data.   
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein
 the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive and process sensory data from the user terminal, and apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the sensory data,   the extracted traits are included in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and   the wellness indices are generated in (c) based on at least in part on the patient wellness data.   
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive data from the user terminal, apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the received data, include the extracted traits in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and determine one or more candidates of underlying medical conditions based on the wellness indices generated in (c). 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive data from the user terminal, apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the received data, include the extracted traits in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and determine, based on the wellness indices generated in (c), a probability of an underlying medical condition. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the one or more available professionals matched in (d) to the user are determined based additionally on the probability of the underlying medical condition. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 45 , wherein the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive data from the user terminal, apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the received data, include the extracted traits in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and determine one or more candidates of underlying psychological conditions based on the wellness indices generated in (c). 
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive data from the user terminal, apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the received data, include the extracted traits in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and determine, based on the wellness indices generated in (c), a probability of an underlying psychological condition. 
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 47 , wherein the one or more available professionals matched in (d) to the user are determined based additionally on the probability of the underlying psychological condition. 
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive data from the user terminal, apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the received data, include the extracted traits in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and determine one or more candidates of underlying psychiatric conditions based on the wellness indices generated in (c). 
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive data from the user terminal, apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the received data, include the extracted traits in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and determine, based on the wellness indices generated in (c), a probability of an underlying psychiatric condition. 
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 50 , wherein the one or more available professionals matched in (d) to the user are determined based additionally on the probability of the underlying psychiatric condition. 
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive data from the user terminal, apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the received data, include the extracted traits in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and determine one or more candidates of disorders based on the wellness indices generated in (c). 
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the patient-to-professional matching apparatus is further configured, through execution by the processor of the one or more programs, to receive data from the user terminal, apply an artificial intelligence process to extract one or more physical, emotional, and verbal traits of the user from the received data, include the extracted traits in the patient wellness data collected in (b), and determine, based on the wellness indices generated in (c), a probability of one or more particular disorders. 
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 53 , wherein the one or more available professionals matched in (d) to the user are determined based additionally on the probability of the one or more particular disorders.